


the very thought of you

by quibbler



Series: teacher/student au [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-18 16:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2355590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quibbler/pseuds/quibbler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitz finds himself drawn to one of his students.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the very thought of you

**Author's Note:**

> Just posting this for posterity's sake! I don't own anything and this is unbeta-ed.

It isn’t that work is boring, but Fitz is not looking forward to the first day back from summer break. Being a university professor has its perks, of course, most importantly full funding for his research, but full funding means that he is required to teach several courses. He doesn’t mind it and it’s a sheer stroke of luck that he gets to teach mostly upperclassmen who are genuinely interested in his classes and his field of research, but he knows he isn’t the easiest of professors. He is tough on his students because he expects them to do their best and sometimes he has to repeat things because his accent gets thicker when he gets excited or flustered or tired.  
He arrives early and stays in the back office that doesn’t quite belong to him so he doesn’t startle his students into silence before it’s necessary. The faint strains of conversation trickle in through the open door as students walk into the room and he smiles, sifting through his papers and lesson plans.

There’s a knock on the door and he looks up, brows furrowed in confusion because he wasn’t expecting anyone to even know he was in here. A girl stands with one hand pressed to the door and he tries his best not to notice how pretty she is. “Professor Fitz?” she asks, and he immediately notes her accent.

"Just Fitz is fine. How can I help you?"

She beams and shifts so she can clutch her small pile of books in both arms to her chest. “I’m Jemma Simmons. I just wanted to introduce myself and I’d wait until the end of class, but I have to get across campus for my next one and I thought this might be better timing.”

He smiles. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. If you have any questions, any at all, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Fitz addresses all students by their last names, and when they do very brief introductions, he learns their age and major and a highlight of their summer. Simmons sticks out, as he had expected—despite her reading biochemistry, she is here taking a mechanical engineering course as an elective because she thought it would be interesting. He tries to quash the growing interest in who she is.

It’s two weeks later when she emails him to schedule an office hour appointment and despite his usual lack of interest in keeping his office clean, he finds himself straightening out a few piles of papers on his desk and dusting the bookcase behind him. The knock comes just as he pushes a dying plant toward the windowsill. “Come in!”

She opens the door and tentatively peeks her head in. “I’m not too early, am I?”

He shakes his head and moves to open the door further. “You’re all right. Go on and have a seat.” He closes the door behind her and moves to sit at his desk.

Fitz comes to realise that Jemma Simmons is quite different from most of her peers. She asks questions about material that they aren’t meant to cover in this particular class and peppers in questions about him, and he curses himself for his interest. He spends his lectures trying not to play favourites and telling himself that he can get fired if anything were to happen, but he opens up to her more than he’s managed to do to anyone that isn’t his mother.

The coffee shop is surprisingly packed for the late hour, and Fitz looks down at his watch by accident as he reaches for his cup. “Bloody—it’s almost midnight and we’ve been discussing gear mechanisms for nearly two hours. Do you have an early class tomorrow?”

Jemma frowns, looking at her mobile. “One at 8AM, yes. I should probably head back.” When they’ve gathered up their belongings and left the cafe, she makes an apprehensive noise and turns toward him. “Would you—would you mind walking me back? It’s not that I can’t fend for myself, but I’d rather not bludgeon someone with my books.”

He smiles. “Of course.” Some alarm in his brain goes off because this is dangerous territory and he can’t afford to lose his job, but he isn’t about to let her walk back by herself.

It takes ten minutes before they arrive at her building and when she stops in the strange glow of streetlights and building lighting, she looks beautiful and he realises maybe he is in over his head. “Thank you, Fitz, really. I’ll see you in class tomorrow?” He nods and is about to respond when she leans in and presses her lips to his cheek, lingering just long enough to make him wonder. When she pulls back, he is sure he looks dumbfounded. She only smiles and disappears through the door.

The next day, there is a slip of paper on his desk, a string of numbers written on it. _We’ll figure it out, yeah? x JS_


End file.
